The Witcher In Concert’s superb music, relaxed approach to storytelling, and stunning simplicity have made it one of my favorite gaming events that I’ve been to this year – and probably in a good few years, generally. Its effortlessly chill vibes and wonderfully executed audio brought The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back to life for us fans – and, frankly, showed the much more bombastic yet more underwhelming PlayStation in Concert how it’s done.
Instead of going big on complex visuals, combining the music on stage with the action on screen – something that, after seeing the Assassin’s Creed Symphony and then the PlayStation concert, I was a full convert of – The Witcher in Concert’s more relaxed take has proved to me that keeping it simple can still be brilliant too.
While there’s a place for the shows that do the former, timing music and even every beat to in-game action and capture, CD Projekt Red’s recent effort makes the entire video game music concert landscape richer, and shows that utmost immersion isn’t always necessary.
A journey that’s an audio delight
The show as a whole is built around telling a loose, abridged version of the story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and the two expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. A live, small orchestra, plus the folk band Percival Schuttenbach, all using traditional instruments and performing the vocals, took audience members on a fantastic journey across the game.
From Geralt’s dream in the woods with Vesemir, to the first time he arrives in the Skellige Isles, from tracking down Ciri and gathering allies across the lands, to confronting and defeating the Wild Hunt, I was immediately transported back to my first playthrough of the game – and all the subsequent trips back to explore the game’s world, landscapes and soak up its sense of place.
Beginning with the famous Bathtime in Kaer Morhen scene and a section covering early events at the fortress that I could have happily watched and listened to for hours, the on-screen action and live audio took us on a journey that was an intense but downright beautiful sensory experience.
Hearing, seeing, and feeling the memories
The execution of the live music in tandem with the on-screen action, particularly when factoring in the traditional instruments that the Percival Schuttenbach used, was an immediate memory-jogger for me.
I was able to relive the feeling – not just memories of how it looked or sounded alone – of arriving at the Skellige Isles for the first time; listening to the wind and world (along with the music) on top of mountains with Geralt; exploring each city slowly and soaking in each tavern and street; and the magnificent joy of defeating members of the Wild Hunt in epic duels.
The fact that this was all achieved with a relatively modest group of musicians, and only a couple of vocalists, was very impressive. The whole experience sounded richer and more vibrant than the PlayStation in Concert – and that even pumped in pre-recorded choirs and supporting audio to bolster its audio profile.
If you have the chance to grab tickets for the show on its current tour, then I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a joyful way to appreciate one of the best video games ever made, and it’s made my hype for The Witcher 4 greater than ever.
What the Witcher in Concert also did was immediately make a long-overdue new playthrough of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a contender for my holiday game – despite what I thought my plan for that was – and I can’t wait to explore, see, listen, and feel that game all over again.
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rob.dwiar@futurenet.com (Rob Dwiar)
